Without An Escape Plan
by NightwingNinja17
Summary: Someone from Ratchet's past is found alive, but which side is he truly on?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 **Ratchet's POV**

"Thrusters?"

"Check."

"Ion ducts?"

"Check."

"Everything seems to be in working order," my best friend Clank replied looking up from the tablet in his hands. He had been helping me fix a ship that a friend asked me to repair for him. I couldn't do it without Clank though as he had more knowledge of ships in his circuits than I had in my whole body.

I was excited to finally try it out. Since the Solaris galaxy didn't need saving for a while now, it was good to finally get back to doing what I do best.

"Ratchet, are you sure that you have fixed it properly?" Clank questioned me, always being my voice of reason when it came to mechanics.

"Yes Clank, I'm positive this time it will work," I said as I started the ignition.

"Remember what happened last time you said that?" Clank argued with my reasoning.

"Yes, Clank. Stop being such a worry wart!" I replied as the engine to the ship turned over and the thrusters ignited, "See?"

The thrusters remained on for a minimum of 7 seconds but quickly turned off and the ship came falling to the floor of my garage. A few pieces went flying in various directions on top of that.

"Why does this always happen to me?" I exclaimed in frustration. This was the fourth time I had tried to start the thing and failed. I honestly began to question my abilities to build a ship.

"Perhaps, it is best that I do the building from now on while you tell me what I need," Clank replied as he picked up one of the bolts that had flown off. At the same time a screw had finished coming lose and popped Clank in the head. This made my mood turn around for Clank made the funniest face, I had ever seen him make.

"Yeah, perhaps," I replied through chuckles also throwing a spring in his direction. Much to my amazement, he caught it.

The moment was interrupted when the pad Clank had been carrying, beeped.

"I'm sorry Ratchet, but it appears that I'm needed at the Defense Center to repair some broken security bots," Clank explained to me the nature of the call.

"It's okay buddy," I replied, "You go where you're needed. But if you need me, you know where to find me."

Clank sauntered off in the direction of the door. He turned around to look at me as if he wanted me to tell him not to go.

"Go you bucket of bolts!" I replied as I pushed him out the door.

"Ratchet, please be careful," Clank warned me, "For some reason, I feel something bad is going to happen."

"Relax, will you?" I replied kneeling down to get to eye level with my robot companion, "I'll make sure to give you a call if something does happen."

He just looked between the buildings adjacent to my place, and then back to me. He seemed genuinely worried but also seemed appeased at my proposition.

His pad then rang again.

"Alright, I'll go," Clank finally stated.

"Alright," I replied, "See you when you get done."

Clank activated his wings and a new thruster pack he had installed and flew off to the defense center.

I returned to the mess indoors and decided to pick it up.

"Golly, I've got a lot of cleaning up to do," I thought out loud. I then proceeded to use the rest of my day to clean.

 **Dr. Nefarious' POV**

"Great! That little bot brain took the bait!" Lawrence, my trusty butler cried out.

"Good! That means the squishy is in there all alone," I exclaimed, "General, are you ready to show us your stuff?"

"Ready and waiting for your signal," someone in the shadows stated. I could hear the sound of the man's weapon charging up.

Then he quickly exited the ship. I had so much built up excitement that I let out a laugh.

"Soon Lawrence, we will have my greatest enemy in our grasp to do whatever we want with him," I stated.

"Don't forget, there is someone who wants to experiment on him," Lawrence reminded me.

"Which is going to make my job much more fun!" I added a giddy excitement came over me.

I let out another maniacal laugh. Now all I had to do was wait for the general to complete his task.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**The General's POV**

Once I had left the ship, I decided that it would be best if I snuck up to the house of the little Lomrat. He wouldn't know what hit him.

"General to command are you reading any heat sigs inside?" I whispered as quietly as I could so that the person on the other end could hear me.

"I'm reading one and it is a Lombax," Lawrence replied. He was my wingman on this mission and I needed him too. I wasn't expecting this smash and grab mission to be easy.

I neared the open garage door but tried to stay as hidden as possible till the right moment. I took my electric staff and set the charge to stun. Although he was my enemy, my orders were to apprehend, not to kill.

I peered around the corner to find him placing an odd array of pieces into a container that was sitting on the desk in front of him. It surprised me to find a small, wrecked ship behind him as if something that the young Lombax did had failed.

I decided that I was going to play Mr. Nice Guy before I laid down the pain.

I carefully discharged my staff, trying not to make any noise that might alert the golden colored Lombax to my position. I then took a deep breath as I full turned the corner to reveal myself.

The reaction I got rocked me to my core.

"Allister, is that really you?"

 **Ratchet's POV**

I had just grabbed the escaped bolt off of the floor and proceeded to put it in its right container. But I found myself dropping it as a familiar figure stood at my doorway staring right back at me.

I found tears welling up in my eyes. I tried to hold back them as well as the extremely shocked look I had a feeling that I was expressing.

"Allister, is that really you?" I finally choked out, "Or am I just seeing things?"

The white and red Lombax drew ever nearer to me. His face wore a similar expression to that of my own.

"You're not seeing things Ratchet," He explained to me, "I'm really here."

"But how?" I saw you die in the Orvus Chamber," I relayed the memories out to him.

"I knew you wouldn't leave if I had given you an inkling that I had survived," Allister said, "So I waited till I heard your ship take off before I moved."

I was speechless. I couldn't believe that my mentor and friend had survived that harrowing instance of cheating death.

"Come here," He said has he knelt down to my level and held out his arms towards me.

I ran into his embrace. With the knowledge that I was the last Lombax in the universe, before I met Azimuth rocked the fact that I watched him die. I couldn't believe that he was standing right in front of me alive and seemed to be doing well.

But the feeling didn't last long as I felt a jolt of electricity shoot up my spine. I cried out in pain as I ripped myself from the General's grasp, watching him as I took slow, uneasy steps away.

I looked up at the elder and was shocked and scared for my life all at once.

"Wha…what are you doing Azimuth?" I cried as my vision became somewhat spotty. I then noticed that the same man I left at the Great Clock, wasn't the same man that stood before me.

"Fulfilling my duty," he replied as he shot another bolt of the electricity from his wrench towards me.

 **Allister's POV**

I silently cursed myself for not noticing what suit Ratchet was wearing. He was wearing the black one that he wore when we first met. And if my memory served me right, the only way an electrical charge was going to hurt him was if I shot it directly into the silver chest piece that sat directly above his heart.

Thank goodness I remembered to dumb down the charge.

I continued to blast him trying to get the young agile Ratchet to slip up and provide me with the opportunity to incapacitate him. But he swiftly and skillfully dodged every blast.

He tried making his way to the open door, but I then remembered it and sent a bolt directly to the door controls, frying it upon impact. It closed with a loud crash before he could get any closer.

"Give it up Ratchet and come quietly, and I might not hurt you," I exclaimed over the noise of the battle. I had him cornered. It was the perfect opportunity to strike.

"Why should I?" Ratchet replied, "You'll only hurt me either way."

The kid had a point.

But as I pressed my attack as I drew steadily closer. I carefully aimed around him so that I could turn off his lights in an interesting way.

I was finally on top of him as his back was pressed firmly against the wall. I placed my left hand on his right arm to prevent him from escaping. I then touched the end of my staff to his chest particularly right over his the middle of it and most importantly right over his heart.

"Smart kid," I replied letting loose the stun bolt that would render him helpless.

He let out cries of pain for a few seconds before going completely limp in my arms. He was still conscious but was quickly slipping out of it. I looked into the handsome green eyes and saw something that would be etched into my mind forever.

I saw a look of betrayal and pain.

I stared at him as unconsciousness finally overtook him.

"Sir, I got him," I commed to Dr. Nefarious.

" _Excellent work Azimuth,"_ Nefarious exclaimed a little too happily, " _Now bring him on board so we can leave this awful place."_

He turned off his end of the link, effectively ending the conversation.

I looked at Ratchet's almost lifeless form lying still in my arms. If it wasn't for the somewhat steady rise and fall of his chest, I would have thought I had killed him.

I picked him up bridal style, making sure to nestle his head against my chest, before making my way towards the ship, now dreading whatever Nefarious and his henchmen had in store for him.

But I didn't plan on a certain robot to make an appearance.

 **Clank's POV**

"That blasted Quark, he lied to us again," I replied storming back to the house. I made it to the defense center only to find out that the request for me to fix the broken security droids was a fake one, as usual. I was fuming. It took a lot to make me mad, but this just topped it all.

I rounded the corner near our house and deactivated my wings and thrusters. I was taken by surprise though that instead of hearing the sound of complete silence, all I heard was something electrical flying through the air. I tried locating the sound but found the silence had enveloped my ears once again.

I took my time to enter my house for fear that the source of the noise was coming from inside. What I found though surprised me to my very core.

I turned and found the garage door had been closed. I tried to use the panel on the outside to open it, but found it to be uncooperative. I activated a blow torch from my hand and proceeded to cut the thin metal so I could get through.

Once I finished the cut, I pushed it ever so lightly on the hot metal. It fell without making much noise.

This was one time, I was thankful that I could see well in the dark as the lights in the room had been turned off. I hesitantly made my way inside and found that it had been trashed. The parts to the ship Ratchet and I had been rebuilding were scattered as if a secondary explosion came through and destroyed it completely.

What worried me though was that I couldn't find Ratchet amidst the mess.

"Ratchet? Ratchet where are you?" I called out to my friend.

I waited for a response but didn't get any.

"Ratchet, please respond!"

"He can't hear you right now bot," a voice replied as the room lit up with a bolt of electricity headed straight for me.

I dodged with expertize. I then noticed the same blue glow hovering over a figured that was hunched over in a chair.

"Ratchet!" I exclaimed as I recognized the figure in the middle of the room. I tried to run closer but was stopped dead in my tracks as the man put the electrical current extremely close to Ratchet's exposed neck.

"Don't come any closer if you want to spare his life," The man behind him told me. I could tell that he was trying to put as much hatred into his voice as he could.

I stood there in silence as I finally recognized the character behind all the madness.

"Allister?" I questioned through a gasp that was forming in my vocal box.

I watched as he picked up Ratchet's limp form and slung him over his shoulder, all the while keeping his gaze and his weapon trained on me.

"Let him go Allister!" I exclaimed releasing all the anger I had pent up through to my voice.

"Not going to happen, Clank," Allister stated. At the same time, a small explosion ruptured the scene as the door to the garage finally came crashing down.

And this revealed the final pieces to the puzzle.

A giant ship lumbered over the walkway and standing underneath it was Dr. Nefarious and some of his henchmen.

"Well Clank, it was nice of you to drop by but we really have a tight schedule to keep," Nefarious gloated at his accomplishments.

At this moment, it all clicked in my head. I was lured away to make Ratchet an easy target, because together, we were pretty much unstoppable.

Allister then hopped onto the open ramp leading inside Nefarious' ship. He gave one look at me and smirked before making his way inside, with Nefarious and his army following closely behind.

I watched the ship leave the atmosphere and felt utterly helpless.

All I could think of was that I needed help and I needed it fast.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 **Dr. Umbri Shadowmend's POV**

They got him! I couldn't believe my ears! The infamous Ratchet, the heroic Lombax which had saved worlds a thousand times over! They had finally caught that wench.

I had just received word from Dr. Nefarious that they were almost home with their captive. I was elated to find out that they were bringing him directly to me first. That Lombax wouldn't know what was coming.

As I waited for their arrival, I set about placing the instruments I was going to use where I wanted them.

It took them about an hour before they finally arrived back at the base of operations.

I eagerly waited for Dr. Nefarious to bring Ratchet in, and when they did, I felt a rush of excitement run through my entire Slademan body.

I watched as Azimuth, the elder Lombax, carried in the younger one. He gently placed him down on the stretcher that I had just for the occasion and then left. Then I was shortly joined by Nefarious and his butler Lawrence.

"He seems so vulnerable when he's asleep," Nefarious commented. I followed his gaze to the sleeping Lombax. His orange fur was black in some areas, probably where the electricity from the elder's staff had impacted his body. His breath came out in ragged spurts. If I hadn't seen him breathing, I would have thought that Ratchet was dead.

"Help me take his armor off," I gestured for Lawrence to help me knowing full well that Nefarious wouldn't to such a thing.

With Lawrence's help, we were able to take off everything except for his pants and his hat. It was a strange sight to see the bare fur underneath Ratchet's armor.

"You can do whatever you wish, Umbri, but make sure that you keep him alive," Nefarious stated, "I want to be the one to kill him."

"Yes sir," I replied bowing to the doctor.

He left quickly after that and then I proceeded to strap him down. First binding his wrists to the side of the bed with electro cuffs and then did the same with his legs. I then put one final strap across his neck to prevent him from moving at all.

Once I completely immobilized him, I set out to attach the various monitors on him. I put several pads on his chest to monitor his heart beat and breath, I then put an IV on the inside of his right elbow. This IV had a sedative which I used to keep my patients calm.

It was then that the sound of soft groaning met my ears. I turned towards the Lombax and found him slowly and groggily moving as the effects of the electric stun began to wear off. I pressed a small button on a remote that I carried that automatically sent a signal to the IV machine to inject Ratchet with the sedative.

I could see him visibly wince as this particular type of sedative stung a little as it went through his bloodstream.

"Hello, Ratchet," I said in almost a sing song and taunting kind of voice.

He was going to be fun to mess with.

 **Ratchet's POV**

I felt so cold when I awoke. I couldn't exactly tell why I was feeling this way and this scared me.

A burst of pain in my head suddenly came to the forefront of my attention. I tried opening my eyes but was met with an intense, bright light. I quickly closed them again and found that a soft groan escaped my lips as my head started hurting even worse now.

I then felt a stinging sensation start from my right elbow and continue up my arm. It hurt so badly that I gritted my teeth so that I did not make a sound. It didn't take long though as it had fully gone through my system.

"Hello, Ratchet," I heard someone say as if he was about to break into song. It startled me to hear the silence being broken by an unfamiliar voice.

I opened my eyes slowly to allow them to adjust to the brightness of my surroundings. I then looked around and found that I was in a room that was circle in shape. It was a medium sized room, colored in purple/blue and green colors. I tried to sit up to get a better look of the place, but found that I was strapped to a stretcher like bed, immobilizing me from head to toe.

"Let me go," I simply said, trying to hide my fear as best as I could.

"I can't do that," the Slademan explained.

"Let me go!" This time I yelled it and tried to struggle against the restraints.

I once again felt the stinging sensation go through my body. I gritted my teeth again, but this time I found myself relaxing.

"You know, I've been watching your career and I know how much of a fighter you really are," the man replied. I then realized that my body was getting heavy and numb and this terrified me even more, "I'm a huge fan."

"Yeah and if you….. know so….. much about me….. then why don't you fight me yourself?" I replied taking deep breaths in between as a result of the drug that was inside of me.

He placed on of his fingers over my mouth.

"Come now, there is no time for that, Ratchet," he replied as we stared into each other's eyes.

"How do you know my name?" I finally asked even though, I found it harder to talk. It unnerved me that he knew my name.

"As I said, I'm a huge fan," the man replied, "By the way, I've seemed to have forgotten my manners. My name is Umbri Shadowmend. Or should I say, Dr. Shadowmend?"

I felt my heart sink as he let out a huge evil laugh.

"You," he said as he pointed at me, poking my nose in the process, "My friend are going to be experimented on and there is no way you're going to stop it."

I started to internally panic, despite having the calming effects that the medication gave me.

"But first, I need to make a mask of your face," Shadowmend explained as he circled around to be at the end of my bed where my head was.

I felt something encompass my head. At first, it was a pair of hands holding it straight but then I looked up to find a vice tool had been placed around my head. At the time, it was loose, but as I laid there for a few more minutes, I found it slowly getting tighter. The pressure from the grips as well as the hands made my headache worsen. I then felt pain as the device was eating into the tops of my ears.

Once he got the vice grips tight enough, I felt him let go. I tried wiggling free despite being really relaxed, but found that the device wasn't budging.

Off the corner of my eye, I saw the doctor pull out a syringe and two objects that looked like straws out from various things he had stored. He then filled the syringe with a clear liquid, measured it and then turned around to face me.

"Now this might hurt a little bit," Shadowmend warned me. I watched as he once again grabbed my head to keep it from moving and then took the syringe and proceeded towards the top of my nose. I was helpless to do anything as I felt the needle poke into the bridge of my nose. I closed my eyes quickly as it penetrated into my face. It took all I had to not cry out in pain.

I then felt the soothing sensation of a liquid entering my body. It was a strange sensation as the coolness enveloped my sense.

"Now we'll have to wait five minutes before I can insert these," He explained to me as he held up the straws for me to see. He must have been taking great pleasure in my fear as he procured a sinister grin on his face.

As the five minutes passed, I felt my nose go numb. At first it was slow, but then as the five minutes began to expire, it seemed to speed up. It felt like my nose had been lopped off and all I could feel was a hole where it once was.

"Ah, five minutes is up," he stated a little too cheerfully for my taste. He then towered over me as he continued with his task.

I closed my eyes, not wanting to see this next step. I was honestly surprised that I couldn't feel the straws being shoved into the holes in my nose.

"Great! Now everything is set! Now I suggest that you close your eyes."

"What are you going to do now?" I asked defiantly.

He didn't reply verbally, but he answered my question by spraying me in the face with something.

I was shocked to find that I was getting drowsy. And it seemed to happening, so quickly that my mind didn't have time to process it all. I then felt myself slowly falling into the realm of unconsciousness.

The last thing I remember was thinking about how I would really like to be rescued.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! I wanted to answer some questions that popped up in my comments. First of all, the reason why Allister has two Ls instead of one is because my computer kept on autocorrecting it and I gave up on trying to fix it. It was pointed out to me that I accidently got my Ratchet and Clank galaxies mixed up. It is the SOLANA galaxy that I was trying to describe and ended up saying SOLARIS instead. Sorry about that! My bad. Third, I'm going to try and update this story as quickly as I can, as I seem to be really inspired at the moment. But, I can't promise you that it will be quick. I have a lot of schoolwork as I just finished my first week of school. I hope to have a regular time schedule to get the new chapter done and posted, but I can't promise you anything. But anyway, hope that you are enjoying this story and please review with positive constructive criticism.**

 **Chapter 4**

 **Clank's POV**

After the capture of Ratchet, I hurried back to the Defense Center as quickly as I could.

I couldn't think straight, after seeing Azimuth alive again. I couldn't forgive him for what he did to Ratchet on the Great Clock just that year before. The image of my best friend falling off the side of the platform after being struck in the chest with electricity had not left my mind since it happened. If it wasn't for the fact that we were next to the Orvus chamber, I would have lost my friend for all of eternity.

And now I had a chance to lose him again and I wasn't about to let that happen.

I was so caught up in my thoughts that I almost didn't see the door to the Defense Center coming straight for me until it was almost too late. I pulled up almost last second.

Once, I landed, I let a robotic sigh escape my metal lips as I deactivated my wings and allowed my nerves to settle before finally making my way inside.

The only person I could think of who could solve this mess was Talwyn, the Captain of the Solaris Defense Force.

I followed the endless corridors trying to find the central command station. I just had a gut feeling that Talwyn was there.

I rushed in not waiting for an invitation.

"Talwyn," I said hoping that she would turn around and find me but she remained fixed on something in front of her, "Talwyn?"

She still didn't respond as she stood stock still.

She jumped slightly and turned around. I noticed that her usual pink skin wasn't as vibrant as it usually was.

"Talwyn what's wrong?" I asked the only lady in the defense force.

"What's happened to Ratchet?" She asked me as she sounded like she was trying to hold back tears.

I recounted the events that led up to his capture. I told her what I saw and more importantly who I saw amongst the crowd.

"Allister Azimuth is still alive? I thought he was killed by the Great Clock a while ago?" Talwyn explained.

"I do not believe that it is the same Azimuth we left on the Clock. When I saw him as he escaped our house, it looked like someone was controlling him. His eyes weren't the brown color that I remember, they appeared to be a black, and that wasn't just his eye color."

She just stared at me in shock.

" By the way who told you about Ratchet?" I asked after a sigh had escaped my lips.

"I just received a message from Dr. Nefarious. It said that he has the galaxy's hero and if I want him to remain alive, I have to not send out search parties," Talwyn seemed upset, but for good reason. Ratchet and I were some of the only family she had left.

"But how will he know if we send them out or not?" I asked.

"He had Stuart Zurgo hack into all Defense center feeds in both the Solana and Polaris galaxies," she explained.

"So they would know everything that goes through the system," I replied sadly.

"That and every communication that we send on sight," Talwyn confirmed, "That means we can't communicate with any of our troops because the majority of them live away from the Defense Center."

"What about me?" I asked coming out of a very thoughtful session that I had while listening to her words.

She just looked at me confused.

"What about sending me to go search for Ratchet?" I asked again, "I know that Nefarious will probably expect me to come, but it might be our only shot at finding Ratchet and returning him home alive."

"No Clank, I can't let you! It's too dangerous. If what you told me about Azimuth is true, then I can't let you go near him," She protested.

"What about Ratchet? I can't just sit here and wait while my best friend is out there somewhere probably being hurt."

"But I can't risk your life," Talwyn explained.

I grew angry. I knew Talwyn meant well when she said that she didn't want me going into the line of fire, but to deny me privilege to go search for my friend was beyond me.

I turned to leave but didn't leave it at that.

"You once said that Ratchet and I were the only family you had left. Ratchet has no family and families search and defend one another. Now I'm going to go search for him. Now whether you help me or not it's up to you, but think about what Ratchet would do if he was in your shoes."

I stormed out, deciding right then and there that I was going to go rescue my friend on my own.

I just hoped that Talwyn would change her mind.

 **Azimuth's POV**

After I dropped Ratchet off with the doctor, I felt terrible. Because of that, I found myself wandering through Dr. Nefarious' new and secret space base above the planet Quantos. Although it was abandoned for a while before the evil robotic machine took it over, it seemed like it was a brand new, built from scratch machine.

Since Nefarious had revived me after my ordeal on the Great Clock, I had never gotten nor have been given the chance to properly get a good look at my new home.

I found that I had wandered directly into a door that was marked as a no entry door.

I was confused at first. Nefarious wasn't very good at keeping secrets but this seemed to have been placed with extreme care.

And with this revelation, I was bound and determined to find out how to get inside.

I searched for what seemed like ages for a control panel or of something of that nature and couldn't find one. I then spotted a panel that seemed out of place. It was a lighter blue and smaller than the ones around it.

I used my Omniwrench to expose whatever was underneath.

Once I pulled the panel off, I found a small control panel nestled inside. It seemed like a strange place to find such a random device and a random door.

But I had a slight problem. I didn't know which button I needed to press to get inside.

I pressed every button combination that I could think of to try and gain access to the room beyond but I couldn't figure it out. In frustration, I finally gave up and used the electricity from my wrench to blow it to smithereens.

Once I was finished with that, I was granted access by a lovely beep and the door opening smoothly so that I could see what was inside.

I found the room to be a dark place. There wasn't much light to see. The only source of light came from a tube that stretched from the floor to the ceiling. Inside the tube was a figure, which was curled up almost in a ball.

"Go away, Nefarious!" The figure exclaimed from the floor, "I won't participate in anything you have to offer me."

" _That voice sounded familiar,"_ I thought as I looked back to look at the prone figure below me again. I recognized the black coloring of his armor that was almost indicative of the armor Ratchet had been wearing. The golden yellow fir stuck out in many various ways as if he had just gotten out of bed. I couldn't mistake the ears sticking out from the top of his head. The only thing that worried me was that I saw electrical burns and several deep gashes along his back as if someone on board this floating fortress had been torturing him.

He couldn't have been Ratchet for I left him in the hands of Dr. Shadowmend. There could only be on person connected to that voice.

"Kaden, is that you?" I asked, watching the figure below me shift. He uncurled and carefully moved around. He eventually sat up and looked right at me.

And I couldn't mistake the face.

I walked into the light so that he could see me as well.

"Allister?" He seemed just as surprised to see me as I was to see him. During his surprise though, he managed to take an unsteady step towards my end of the tube.

"What are you doing here in this tube?" I asked concerned for my friend.

"To be honest, I have no idea. The last thing I remember was I was on Fastoon trying to figure out things and then being captured by Nefarious. He said that if I won't help then something bad will happen. The only thing is, is he didn't mention what the bad thing was."

For the first time since I entered the room, Kaden actually made eye contact with me. I could see pain behind those green eyes of his and I debated on telling him whether or not I knew what the bad thing might be.

I had to take a step back when I noticed just how much Ratchet really looked like his father. From his fur color to the color of his eyes, everything just made that much more sense to me when I saw both of them in person. Give or take a few inches in height, they looked almost identical.

"Kaden, I may know the bad thing that Nefarious was talking about," I replied now standing so close to the tube, that I could see my breath on the glass, "Kaden, your son is aboard the ship."

I could see him perk up and simultaneously become crestfallen. He then looked away and slowly, and as I could see in much pain, slid down the glass wall. He then placed his head in his hands.

"Why?" I heard him whisper rather loudly.

"I believe there is more to it than meets the eye to Nefarious' schemes," I replied turning away, fully prepared to leave the room.

"Allister, help me rescue my son and get out of here!" Kaden cried out to me, "As one friend to another, I beg you to consider….."

"I…..I can't," I managed to choke out.

"But why?" he cried out to me as I distanced myself further and further from the glass, "You know as well as I do, that he'll use my son to get to me."

"I…." but before I could utter another word, Nefarious, Lawrence and several of the good doctors soldiers entered the room.

"Azimuth here can't help you Kaden," Nefarious replied as he drew closer to the one Lombax that I considered to be my friend, "He is otherwise occupied at the moment."

At that moment, I started feeling like my head was going to explode. I grabbed it, hoping that it would help, but it didn't.

But then it all went away. At the same time, I felt really susceptible to anything Nefarious was going to tell me.

"Azimuth, go to your chambers and await further instructions," Nefarious ordered me as I turned to leave. But when I heard Kaden's cry, I turned back to watch.

"No!" I heard Kaden cry out as he fought the pain he was feeling to hit the glass as hard as he could, "Let him go you bumbling idiot."

I then saw my best friend get zapped by what looked like a very powerful electrical current coming from somewhere inside the tube. He cried out for what seemed like ages but it soon died down as I saw his limp form lying helplessly on the ground.

"You will do well to remember that I also hold your precious son hostage. If you don't help me, than when my friend Dr. Shadowmend is through with the experiments, I'll end his pathetic, squishy life right before your very eyes."

"How do you know I have a son?" I then heard Kaden ask weakly, but all the while looking straight at me.

"You can ask your good friend Allister Azimuth that question." But before he could, Nefarious shoved me and all of his other crew members out the door and shut it hard, "Now as for you Azimuth, I thank you for doing me a favor and breaking the news to him. But if you so much as return to this room or any sector around it, I'll make sure that you are the one terminated in front of him, not his pathetic son Ratchet. Understood?"

"Yes I understand," I replied very solemnly.

"Good, now go back to your room."

I turned to leave and the only thing that I could think of was these few words.

"What have I done?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

 **Hey guys! I'm back! Hope you are enjoying this story! I wanted to preface this chapter by saying that I've taken some inspiration from two of my favorite TV shows in parts of this story. The first is 1966 Batman. The end of the first episode and all of the second pretty much has Robin kidnapped and then used to create an exact replica for the villain to use to throw off the hero off of the trail. I also have taken inspiration from Star Wars the Clone Wars. But I can't give details of that without spoiling what's going to happen in this next chapter. Anyway I also wanted to apologize for the use of the chapter thing to respond to a review. If that turned people off, I'm sorry. I can't please everyone but please use POSITIVE CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM to let me know if there is anything I can do to better my story. So without further ado, here is chapter 5.**

 **Chapter 5**

 **Ratchet's POV**

A strange feeling washed over me as I slowly awoke from the strange substance being sprayed in my face. I felt rejuvenated, but at the same time I felt groggy. I didn't know what to do except to take it as it came.

I slowly opened my eyes, to find that the room was almost completely dark. The only light was coming from four small circles in the middle of room on the high ceiling above. They were dim though so it didn't offer me a good look at my surroundings. The almost colorless interior of the room did little to help my eyesight and it didn't help that my sight was impaired.

I moved my head to look around and surprised myself when I found that I could move it freely. I noticed that the vice grip as well as the restraint around my neck had been removed, much to my relief. I then decided to try and see if the restraints around my arms and legs had been removed as well and found it to be true.

I felt a surge of excitement enter through my body as I sat up for the first time since the whole nightmare had started. Since I still couldn't see straight, I sat there and stared at one of the lights up above me. Even though they looked like small shapeless blobs, it still didn't deter me to find solace in the fact that I could move.

But then my vision became clearer at the same time the lights to the room brightened just a tad bit. I could finally see my hands in front of me and found them to be slightly bruised, probably from the small amount of time that I had spent struggling against the restraints.

I then was startled by a noise that sounded robotic in sound. Lombaxes weren't known for their eyesight in the dark, so I had to struggle to make out any movements.

I scanned to my left first and found nothing. I then scanned to my right and found nothing once again. But when I turned back to the left, I saw a robot that shared my facial features staring directly in my face.

This alarmed me so much, that I found myself trying to get away from this thing. But instead of managing to get away, I found myself falling off the opposite side of the bed.

What had startled me the most about this…..thing, was that it didn't look like a robot to begin with. It looked like an actual Lombax right down to the fur on his ears.

My fear of this thing was interrupted as a sharp pain erupted from my right elbow. I found that I had landed right on it as a result of the scare. I just laid down on the floor and waited for the pain to subside.

"Don't you love it? I think I captured your likeness perfectly," Dr. Shadowmend asked me as he admired his work. The lights soon became bright as if someone invisible had flicked the switch.

I tilted my head slightly upwards as I replied with silence. I rubbed my injured elbow as the pain erupted from within once again. I tried not to let an outward show of pain grace my face. Instead, I tried to force the most 'confused yet not impressed' out and turned right towards the doctor.

He just laughed.

"Well, I know that you wouldn't be impressed. After all it did just scare you right out of your wits," Shadowmend taunted me. I knew he was trying to get inside my head, but I wasn't about to let that happen, at least not while I was conscious anyway.

"What do you want this time Shadowmend?" I finally managed to croak out despite still being groggy.

"Oh it's funny that you mention that, because it's something I don't think you will give me without force."

I watched the doctor turn to a monitor and turned it on. It then began to start showing a video of me in action fighting off Neftin Prog. It showed all of my moves in one, from shooting guns, right down to the way that I threw my Omniwrench.

"You see we have been watching you very closely yet in secret for some time now. We have documentation of every combat move and tactic that you have used in the past. We have also programmed each and every one of them into the robot you see before you," He finished what he wanted to show me and turned off the screen. He then drew steadily closer to me, "He is complete in every way. Except there is now one small thing that he doesn't have that will really be needed."

I just stared at him even more, not taking me eyes off of him even for a second. I didn't want to speak because I didn't want the dread that had arisen to shine as I knew it just fed the doctor even more juice. I, in turn, just raised an eyebrow to signal that I wanted him to continue.

"He needs a voice, and not just any voice. He needs the voice of the one he was made to look like," he smiled the toothy grin that only a Slademan could render and it scared me to the core. How in the world was he going to get my voice to be in the robot?

He procured from his pile of gadgets a small round object that fit perfectly in the palm of his hand. Shadowmend continued to walk closer to me with a smile that unsettled me. I then tried backing up, not turning my back for one second. But I found myself running into two massive robots that soon had me in standing in a mess of vice grips, particularly around my arms. I struggled for what seemed like a few seconds and found that all of my strength had left me due to the pain in my arms and elbow.

Then Shadowmend stilled my head and balanced the round thing on my nose.

 _"What is up with him and noses?"_ I thought to myself as I stared at the device.

It then came to life now sporting an eye and four small legs. I watched it carefully as it oriented itself and then proceeded to move about my face.

"So, Ratchet, what do you think of the robot?" he asked me with the wicked grin appeared on his face again.

"It's interesting," I replied, "It could use some work though, I heard it before I…"

I ended my sentence quickly as I found the device now crawl into my mouth. I tried spitting it out, but it reacted by clawing into my tongue, anchoring each of its legs. Once I figured that it was no use trying to eject it from my mouth, I just focused on fighting the pain.

But I soon found myself squirming underneath the feeling that the little bot was creating as it crawled further into my throat. I then fought the urge to gag as the device slowly continued its journey.

I continued to writhe underneath its grip as it now reached the bit of my throat that allowed air into and out of my body. It entered, and as soon as it did I felt a sensation that scared me.

The sensation was a mix of numbness as well as pain as the device now reached my vocal chords. I found it becoming more difficult to breath as the device was just small enough to fit inside my throat. I then felt it messing with the chords, poking and prodding it as if it was a plaything.

I began to panic as the poking caused me to want to cough, but the numbness that the device spread wouldn't allow for it. It then felt like my vocal chords had been paralyzed leaving me helplessly without a voice.

The round thing then exited my mouth and then hopped back up on top of my nose. Shadowmend then held his hand out as if he was beckoning the device to climb up. It followed the gesture and made its way right into his hand. Shadowmend closed it around the device and turned to face the new addition to the robot family.

I stood there helpless in my voice as well as my body. The three robots still held me tightly as I watched the good doctor walk over to the robot and insert the little robot inside. He then flipped a switch and the thing came to life.

"So Ratchet? What does it feel like to be alive?" Shadowmend asked the robot.

It took a few seconds to register before answering.

"It feels awesome," the robot replied sounding exactly like me. It then caught my eye that he was wearing pieces of the armor I had previously occupied. It was mainly just belts and gadgets but it was enough to make me angry. I tried to protest but found that no noise came. It surprised me but then I remembered that my vocal chords were paralyzed.

"Let him go," Shadowmend replied to the robots holding me. He then turned to my robot twin, "We have work to do."

The robots shoved me hard to the ground. I found myself landing on the same elbow that I had previously injured as pain erupted throughout my whole arm.

"Farewell, Ratchet and don't worry, your friends won't be harmed," Shadowmend stated maliciously as he belted out a sinister laugh. The door shut quickly behind him, leaving me to my own devices.

I could just imagine that pretender taking Clank and tearing him to shreds, and then hope of a rescue would be almost non-existent.

I just mentally pleaded and hoped that Clank would be able to tell the robot apart; for that was the only way I was going to be rescued.


End file.
